Yes, applicants for our Bachelor of Science in Game Design & Production Program are required to submit a portfolio of 8-12 pieces of work. We require a portfolio because the foundation of our Game Design & Production curriculum is design skill development with core classes in digital media. Our students are re-thinking the structure of gaming and a large component of that thought is visual. A portfolio allows our faculty to see a student’s ability to grow artistically as well as through digital programming.

Students applying to our Game Design & Production program can submit prior work within game design, such as character development and programming. We also accept traditional media, such as drawings, paintings, sculpture, and photography. If you are submitting work related to the creation of a game, please keep in mind you cannot submit a link to a website. You can upload a video, either as an MP4, or link to YouTube or Vimeo video. Portfolios are submitted in SlideRoom. You can read more about portfolio requirements here.

If you have questions regarding the Game Design & Production portfolio, please contact our Westphal Admissions team at westphaladm@drexel.edu or 215.895.1738.

The focus of our Game Design & Production major at the Westphal College of Media Arts & Design is to develop well-rounded game designers who engage in rethinking what the game industry can be in the future. Students in this program take a core curriculum of design foundation, animation, interactive design, and programming classes. We aim to create game designers who engage and question what game design can be across consumer gaming as well as corporate enterprising.

The Game Programming and Development concentration within Drexel’s Computer Science degree focuses on the practical experience in the design and development of games. The concentration’s core curriculum is based in Computer Science with requirements related to programming, construction and development of games rather than the design and ideation of games.

Students from both programs are active participants in the Entrepreneurial Game Studio at Drexel University, as well as our SIGGRAPH and Virtual Reality student clubs.

Though both programs do have some overlap, the curriculums are quite different, and we highly suggest contacting our Westphal Admissions team at westphaladm@drexel.edu if you have further questions about which program may be best suited to your interests and career goals.

Through Drexel’s renowned cooperative education program (co-op), students embark on up to three six-month periods of full-time employment, exploring their career options, strengthening their resumes, and building a professional network in the process.

The Game Design & Production program offers students two educational pathways: students can either complete their degree in four years with one co-op experience or complete their degree in five years with three co-op experiences. Students will choose what option they prefer during their application process. Recent co-op opportunities have included game and digital media jobs at companies such as,

• enAble Games
• Entrepreneurial Game Studio
• PHL Collective
• Rockstar Games
• Penn Medicine
• Skyless Game Studio
• Inter Media in Tokyo

Yes, students can choose to minor in any of the minors offered at Drexel University after discussing their options with their Academic Advisor. Some popular minors for our Game Design & Production students include Computer Science, Fine Arts, Interactive Digital Media, and Virtual Reality & Immersive Media. Your Academic Advisor will help you decide on a minor and complete the necessary credit hours within your degree plan. To view the full list of undergraduate minors offered at Drexel University, visit the Course Catalog.

We encourage you to check out the Drexel University Entrepreneurial Game Studio (EGS) and play a couple of our students’ games that are currently being tested.

Students can apply for the accelerated dual degree Bachelor of Science in Game Design & Production and Master of Science in Digital Media during their second year at Drexel. To be accepted, current students must have completed at least 90 credits, maintain at least a 3.2 GPA, and have a successful portfolio review by the Digital Media program faculty. If accepted to the accelerated program, students will begin taking graduate level courses during their third year. If you are a current student and have questions regarding the accelerated dual degree program, please contact your Academic Advisor.

Westphal requires students entering the Game Design & Production program to have access to a personal computer. Westphal Information Technology has provided personalized recommendations for students based on the software requirements per program. To learn more about laptop requirements for the Game Design & Production program, please visit our laptop requirement webpage.

As you may be aware, many tools to make games are available for free, from Unity, Unreal, Game Maker, Godot, Twine, and GitHub, to GIMP, Blender, Inkscape, and Machinations.

Anyone with a .edu email address can get almost everything Autodesk makes for free, including Maya, Mudbox, and more. Your Drexel student email address will additionally unlock premium student discounts for such things as Adobe Creative Cloud, granting access to Photoshop, Illustrator, Substance Painter, and more.

All Westphal computers are equipped with most of the above-mentioned software as well as licenses for Houdini, Perforce, Shōgun, ZBrush, and more. Students can obtain access to these licenses on their laptops through Drexel’s VPN.

Westphal computers are also equipped with CLO (the professional version of Marvelous Designer), TouchDesigner, and a variety of other design tools that can be used to create industry-standard experiences.

For a more comprehensive list, please visit the Drexel Software List.